'Clavell never puts a foot wrong . . . Get it, read it, you'll enjoy it mightily' Daily Mirror This is James Clavell's tour-de-force; an epic saga of one Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, and his integration into the struggles and strife of feudal Japan. Both entertaining and incisive, SHOGUN is a stunningly dramatic re-creation of a very different world. Starting with his shipwreck on this most alien of shores, the novel charts Blackthorne's rise from the status of reviled foreigner up to the hights of trusted advisor and eventually, Samurai. All as civil war looms over the fragile country. 'I can't remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one. It's irresistable, maybe unforgettable. Clavell creates a world so enveloping you forget who and where you are' - New York Times ******** John Blackthorne, an English navigator, finds himself shipwrecked on the coast of Japan. This is a land few Europeans have ever seen. Imprisoned by the local samurai, Blackthorne faces immediate challenges. He doesn’t understand the language, customs, or the rigid social hierarchy. He represents everything the Japanese mistrust: foreign, non-Catholic, and seafarer. The Portuguese and Jesuit priests present in Japan see him as a threat to their control over trade and religion. Kasigi Yabu, a local daimyo, orders Blackthorne’s execution based on the Jesuits’ advice. However, Omi, Yabu’s insightful adviser, persuades Yabu to spare Blackthorne. He believes they can learn valuable European knowledge from him. Blackthorne is thrown into a pit with his surviving crew. To save them, Blackthorne agrees to cooperate with the Japanese, starting his immersion in a completely different world.